refuse_resist
30th September 2004, 03:37
By Crystal Carreon and Howard Mintz
Mercury News
A Bosnian refugee who friends say had survived a concentration camp in his war-torn country and recently had shown signs of a mental disorder was shot to death Sunday by a San Jose police officer outside a Starbucks.
San Jose police did not identify the officer involved in the department's fifth deadly shooting this year, but described him as a 10-year veteran of the force. Authorities also did not name the dead man, but a relative identified him as Zaim Bojcic, 40, of San Jose.
San Jose police said Bojcic violently attacked an officer, even after being shot with a Taser, and the matter was still under investigation Sunday night. But neighbors and friends in the local Bosnian community quickly questioned whether the shooting of the unarmed man was necessary.
Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Dixon said detectives were interviewing the officer late Sunday after he was treated at a hospital for facial cuts and a possible concussion from the afternoon confrontation on the 1300 block of Winchester Boulevard.
The incident began about 1:15 p.m., when employees reported to the officer that they were having trouble with a man outside the coffee shop. When the officer approached, Bojcic threw a chair at the officer, Dixon said. The officer called for assistance and fired his Taser, which did not deter the man from attacking. Three witnesses said Bojcic threw the chair after the officer used the Taser. Dixon could not say for sure which happened first.
``The suspect charged at the officer, punching and kicking him,'' Dixon said. ``The officer drew his weapon and fired several rounds.''
Bojcic was taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he was declared dead.
Four witnesses said they were sitting outside next to Bojcic when the confrontation with police unfolded.
According to one of the witnesses, the officer approached Bojcic, admonished him about smoking where he shouldn't and asked him to stand up, but Bojcic refused, saying his leg was hurting. When the officer grabbed Bojcic, he resisted, two of the witnesses said.
``He kept saying, very loud, `Don't touch me, don't touch me,' '' said one witness, who would identify himself only as Edo H. ``He got scared. He was scared of police.''
The four Bosnian men, who all knew Bojcic because he frequented Starbucks and smoked cigarettes outside every day, said they offered to speak to their friend, but the officer ordered them to back off.
``They should have handled it differently. They didn't have to shoot him,'' said one witness. ``He didn't have any weapons on him.''
Sejad Premilovac said he and his cousin, Bojcic, survived six months at the Dretelj Prison Camp at a former Yugoslav Army barracks. An International Red Cross refugee placement program brought Bojcic to the United States in January 1994.
Then, friends and relatives began noticing a gradual change in Bojcic's behavior. He stopped working as a machinist in the East Bay and became markedly withdrawn.
``Something changed in his mind, and I tried to help many times,'' Premilovac said.
Premilovac could not say whether Bojcic had been diagnosed with a mental disorder, but noted a doctor had prescribed him medication, which he did not like taking.
In 2002, Bojcic was arrested by Concord police after he tried to reclaim his Honda, which had been seized in a drunken-driving investigation. After learning his impounded car had been sold, Bojcic shattered the windows of a patrol car with a four-foot piece of lumber and smashed a side window with a slab of concrete from a nearby construction site, according to news accounts at the time. A records search showed that Bojcic had been cited or charged at least six times in Contra Costa County beginning in 1996.
But those who knew him thought he was harmless.
``We would hang around the Starbucks for years, and we would feel sorry for him because he's mentally ill,'' said friend Chicho Sofdic. ``He was always laughing and joking, he never fought with anybody.
``He was a quiet guy, smoking his cigarettes.''
It was the fifth fatal shooting by San Jose police this year. They killed two people last year, including Bich Cau Thi Tran, who was slain in her Taylor Street kitchen after an officer mistook a 10-inch Asian vegetable peeler for a cleaver. In that case, the San Jose police officer was cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but it spurred police to arm every patrol officer with a Taser.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...cal/9770704.htm (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/9770704.htm)
San Jose is a city that's less than a half hour away from here. A friend of mine used to go to school with his cousin too. This isn't the first time the pigs have gone around killing immigrants. Racism and xenophobia are alive and well in this country.
I checked out the police report from the SJPD website and the pigs tried changing the story around, saying that it was the guy who attacked the cop first before he used the taser on him. The witnesses say the cop used the taser on him first before the guy threw the chair at him, so it's only obvious who's right.
Mercury News
A Bosnian refugee who friends say had survived a concentration camp in his war-torn country and recently had shown signs of a mental disorder was shot to death Sunday by a San Jose police officer outside a Starbucks.
San Jose police did not identify the officer involved in the department's fifth deadly shooting this year, but described him as a 10-year veteran of the force. Authorities also did not name the dead man, but a relative identified him as Zaim Bojcic, 40, of San Jose.
San Jose police said Bojcic violently attacked an officer, even after being shot with a Taser, and the matter was still under investigation Sunday night. But neighbors and friends in the local Bosnian community quickly questioned whether the shooting of the unarmed man was necessary.
Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Dixon said detectives were interviewing the officer late Sunday after he was treated at a hospital for facial cuts and a possible concussion from the afternoon confrontation on the 1300 block of Winchester Boulevard.
The incident began about 1:15 p.m., when employees reported to the officer that they were having trouble with a man outside the coffee shop. When the officer approached, Bojcic threw a chair at the officer, Dixon said. The officer called for assistance and fired his Taser, which did not deter the man from attacking. Three witnesses said Bojcic threw the chair after the officer used the Taser. Dixon could not say for sure which happened first.
``The suspect charged at the officer, punching and kicking him,'' Dixon said. ``The officer drew his weapon and fired several rounds.''
Bojcic was taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he was declared dead.
Four witnesses said they were sitting outside next to Bojcic when the confrontation with police unfolded.
According to one of the witnesses, the officer approached Bojcic, admonished him about smoking where he shouldn't and asked him to stand up, but Bojcic refused, saying his leg was hurting. When the officer grabbed Bojcic, he resisted, two of the witnesses said.
``He kept saying, very loud, `Don't touch me, don't touch me,' '' said one witness, who would identify himself only as Edo H. ``He got scared. He was scared of police.''
The four Bosnian men, who all knew Bojcic because he frequented Starbucks and smoked cigarettes outside every day, said they offered to speak to their friend, but the officer ordered them to back off.
``They should have handled it differently. They didn't have to shoot him,'' said one witness. ``He didn't have any weapons on him.''
Sejad Premilovac said he and his cousin, Bojcic, survived six months at the Dretelj Prison Camp at a former Yugoslav Army barracks. An International Red Cross refugee placement program brought Bojcic to the United States in January 1994.
Then, friends and relatives began noticing a gradual change in Bojcic's behavior. He stopped working as a machinist in the East Bay and became markedly withdrawn.
``Something changed in his mind, and I tried to help many times,'' Premilovac said.
Premilovac could not say whether Bojcic had been diagnosed with a mental disorder, but noted a doctor had prescribed him medication, which he did not like taking.
In 2002, Bojcic was arrested by Concord police after he tried to reclaim his Honda, which had been seized in a drunken-driving investigation. After learning his impounded car had been sold, Bojcic shattered the windows of a patrol car with a four-foot piece of lumber and smashed a side window with a slab of concrete from a nearby construction site, according to news accounts at the time. A records search showed that Bojcic had been cited or charged at least six times in Contra Costa County beginning in 1996.
But those who knew him thought he was harmless.
``We would hang around the Starbucks for years, and we would feel sorry for him because he's mentally ill,'' said friend Chicho Sofdic. ``He was always laughing and joking, he never fought with anybody.
``He was a quiet guy, smoking his cigarettes.''
It was the fifth fatal shooting by San Jose police this year. They killed two people last year, including Bich Cau Thi Tran, who was slain in her Taylor Street kitchen after an officer mistook a 10-inch Asian vegetable peeler for a cleaver. In that case, the San Jose police officer was cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but it spurred police to arm every patrol officer with a Taser.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...cal/9770704.htm (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/9770704.htm)
San Jose is a city that's less than a half hour away from here. A friend of mine used to go to school with his cousin too. This isn't the first time the pigs have gone around killing immigrants. Racism and xenophobia are alive and well in this country.
I checked out the police report from the SJPD website and the pigs tried changing the story around, saying that it was the guy who attacked the cop first before he used the taser on him. The witnesses say the cop used the taser on him first before the guy threw the chair at him, so it's only obvious who's right.